


A Friend in Need

by Lady_Mischievous



Category: Tiger & Bunny
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-30
Updated: 2013-06-30
Packaged: 2017-12-16 16:48:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/864316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Mischievous/pseuds/Lady_Mischievous
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was safe to say that Antonio and luck were not friends. If luck were a lady, then she must have had some sort of vendetta against him. Part of the hurt/comfort bingo challenge.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Friend in Need

It was safe to say that Antonio and luck were not friends. If luck were a lady, then she must have had some sort of vendetta against him. At least that’s what one could gather after the floor Antonio’s apartment was located caught fire and had burned. He lost almost everything he owned. What could be salvaged he couldn’t keep because he had no place for it.

For a while, Antonio managed to hide his situation from the other heroes, he spent what he could on motel rooms or stayed in his car on some nights. His income had already become shaky due to his low ranking on the charts on HeroTV. The apartment burning had pushed him over the financial cliff and stuck in a rut. It didn’t help that insurance was stuck in a bunch of red tape due to the incident being a suspected arson case and they wanted to hold off on the payments until that case was solved. Leaving Antonio stuck in financial limbo for a while. 

As time went, Antonio started to slip into a depression, and it was starting to show. He avoided going out with Kotetsu, he was taking less care of himself, and things just seemed to be losing their effect on him. Even Nathan’s flirting and ass groping couldn’t get as much of a rise out of him as it usually would. It was a big red flag that something was not right with the hero, and suspicion began to stir.

“Has he talked to you about it at all?” Nathan asked Kotetsu. 

The two of them stood together in the gym, watching Antonio on the other side of the room. He seemed to be taking a break, not able to really focus on his work out.

“No, we’ve barely gone out together lately.” Kotetsu said with a little concern. “I’ve had to pay each time, but with his apartment burning down I didn’t get on his case about it.”

“Sweety, are you sure he’s found a new place to stay?” Nathan asked.

Kotetsu blinked as the thought suddenly hit him. “Why would he lie about something like that though?”

“A pride thing maybe, being homeless isn’t an easy situation, perhaps he’s embarrassed.” Nathan pointed out. “You kept your own little secrets from everyone. Is it really that much of a stretch to believe that Antonio might do the same?”

Kotetsu gave a small sigh and shifted uncomfortably. He wasn’t sure what he hated about this situation more, being reminded of his own issues or feeling like an awful friend for not paying attention to Antonio’s situation.

“I wouldn’t mind taking him in, he’d make a lovely pet.” Nathan playfully mused.

“I’m not sure he’d go for being anyone’s pet cow.” Kotetsu said with a small laugh.

“You’d be surprised what people are willing to do when they’re in a tight spot.” Nathan then made his way across the gym over to the brooding Bison.

Kotetsu watched from where he was; he could pretty much imagine just how the conversation was going. Nathan’s flirtatious body language, Antonio’s sudden ridged posture, it got a chuckle out of Kotetsu. 

Soon enough Nathan returned looking a little defeated, he took a seat next to Kotetsu and gave a sigh. “Well, that didn’t work…”

“It was still a damn good try.” Kotetsu said, giving a smile. He then found himself being hugged and smooched on the cheek by Nathan, causing the older hero to yelp at the sudden invasion of his personal space.

“You’re so sweet Tiger~!” Nathan practically cooed in his ear. Soon he eased up on the hugging and became more serious. “But in all seriousness, try to talk to him if you can. All joking aside, I am a little worried for him.”

“…I am too.” Kotetsu admitted.

Later, just as the evening began, Antonio got dressed in his civilian clothes and collected his things after making use of the gym’s showers. As he made his way out of the locker room and towards the exit of the gym his mind was going over what some of his options could be, would he have to give up his job as a hero? He had to survive, but what else could he do for work? Antonio was so lost in his thoughts that he couldn’t hear that he was being called.

“Oi! Bison! Don’t ignore me, you ass!” Kotetsu shouted as he followed after him. 

Antonio was a little surprised, was he waiting for him? Probably to want to go eat out together, and while food sounded great, he’d been asking Kotetsu to pay a few too many times already. “Ah, sorry, I can’t hang out today, I’m a bit busy.”

“Bullshit, that’s the same excuse you’ve been giving me for the past week.” Kotetsu said with a frown. “Look, I was thinking, how about coming to my place for a bite to eat? I’ll cook you up something good!”

“But all you can make is fried rice.” Antonio pointed out, though, fried rice did sound good.

“What’s wrong with fried rice!?” Kotetsu said with a huff. He then tried to calm down before he could get into a fight with him. “Well, I have some extra ingredients around, if you want to cook something else your free to.”

“So you’re now inviting me to come over to your place and cook?” Antonio asked.

“Shut up, you know what I mean!” Kotetsu said while pointing an accusing finger at Antonio. “Look, I could really use some company; do you think you can come over? You can stay the night if you want.”

Antonio blinked, suddenly understanding what Kotetsu was trying to say. While it was obvious to him what Kotetsu was really trying to say, Antonio appreciated that he was thinking about both him and his pride. Antonio seemed to think it over for a moment, it’d beat sleeping in his car or in a motel, but at the same time he wasn’t sure he could accept it. He opened his mouth to answer, but was then cut off.

“Come on, you’ve been dodging me for the past week, and…I could really use the company.” Kotetsu insisted.

Something in Kotetsu’s voice felt genuine; maybe he really did want the company. Antonio couldn’t help but smile a little. If that was the case, then how could he say no? “Thanks…”

Kotetsu smiled, gave Antonio a pat on the back, and they both headed out of the gym together.

-The End-


End file.
